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This week we share with you a very show from the Nurse Talk library, and “re-present” two very honorable guests, Ken Zinn, the D.C. based Political Director for National Nurses United and retired army nurse captain, Vietnam War veteran, and founder of the Women’s Vietnam Memorial, Diane Carlson Evans.

Ken talks with us about the announcement from the European Nations that 11 countries have signed on to a “financial transaction” tax, aka the Robin Hood Tax. The Robin Hood tax will raise billions of dollars by taxing financial transactions by incurring a less than half a percent tax on Wall Street transactions. Nurses in the U.S. have been on the leading edge of this concept and are making some headway here at home. Keep an open mind. If you listen to the simple details you might agree – this is a very fair and doable measure. Visit robinhoodtax.org.

Diane Carlson Evans who served as an army nurse in Vietnam talks about the announcement by the pentagon that women can now serve in combat roles in the military. Diane shares her story and tells us that women have been serving in combat since World War 2, mostly as nurses. Read more…

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Listen to our guest this week RN Jeff Breslin of the Michigan Nurses Association on The Safe Patient Care Act “Every Michigan resident deserves to receive safe care at every hospital, every time. Michigan’s nurses are simply asking for our leaders’ support to make that happen.” Jeff will talk with us about this important initiative that is sweeping the country.

And later, a fierce leader, and one of our favorite guests, Healthcare and Human Rights Advocate Donna Smith, will join us. As some of you know, Donna has been leading the charge for the past 8 years for a universal healthcare system in our country. Donna was featured in Michael Moore’s film “Sicko.” For the past 5 years she worked as the Legislative Coordinator for National Nurses United. She is now the Executive Director of Healthcare for All Colorado. We’ll talk with Donna about all things healthcare, a little politics, the effects of the sequester – particularly the ones you don’t hear about — and more. For more information about Healthcare for All Colorado, visit healthcareforallcolorado.org.

And don’t forget, our resident health and fitness expert Joanie Greggains with another edition of “Fit Happens.” We’ll also tend to email questions and a few “off-the-grid” jokes that only nurses can tell and insist they aren’t going to be bleeped! Read more…

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As part of their tribute to wasting time, Casey and Shayne tell stories about their childhood. Although not particularly newsworthy or medically related, they are none-the-less rather funny. Casey shares about the time she was hit by a car (not hurt) and ran home and tried to hide it from her mother. Unfortunately, the gentleman that hit her found her phone number in one of the school books she dropped while fleeing the scene. Find out what happened when Casey’s mother finds out. 

And Shayne…well growing up as an only child in rural Oklahoma was not exactly eventful. He shares about the time he made Jello salad with his mom.

Good show this week! RN Betty Sparks joins us. Betty is a nurse at Newton Wellesley Hospital and is trained to provide care and treatment in the wake of all types of disasters. 

Betty, who was on the ground to help victims after Hurricane Katrina and in Haiti after the devastating earthquake, was working at the medical tent at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. She was there to respond and care for the victims when the bombs exploded. She is trained to do this and she has seen horrific scenes before, but this time it was different; she knew her son was at the finish line with a camera getting ready to photograph her daughter-in-law as she finished the race. Read more…

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Ahhhh, technology! It’s a very good thing, but when are we going too far? Should ROBOTS replace doctors and nurses? Can they diagnose and treat patients? Well it’s already happening in some hospitals. Get the good, the bad, and the ugly on this emerging trend when Casey and Shayne visit with National Nurses United RN Deborah Burger.

Our bodies and our hungers carry messages; carry wisdom. Turning these into our enemies in order to lose weight, or try to change other habits, is almost never sustainable. Author and psychologist David Bedrick returns to the show and will show us how to listen to our bodies, befriend our hungers, and develop more loving strategies to affect change.

David is the author of the best-selling book, Talking  Back To Dr. Phil, Alternatives to Mainstream Psychology. David facilitates an on-air process with Casey about “losing weight.” Check it out on our website or visit www.talkingbacktodrphil.com.

AND, this weeks top 10 craziest things patients have insisted on keeping in their hospital rooms. A hint: A cherished, stuffed, real dog; the family pet for 20 years who recently passed on. Read more…

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Welcome to Nurse Talk, where laughter is the best medicine and random acts of unconsciousness can (and do) occur. This week, live from our studio atop the beautiful U-Haul storage warehouses in Corte Madera CA, we gather to take Casey and Shayne’s blood pressure as well as talk to Dr. Elson Haas, the Founder of the Preventive Medical Center of Marin, and Sandra Evans, the organizer of the 1st Annual Marin Healthy Palooza. If you are in or around the San Francisco Bay Area on Saturday May 11th, you must stop by and visit this unique health fair. All the info is on our website or you can visit www.marinhealthypalooza.org.

And we always joke about our nurses at National Nurses United and how busy they are. Even though we do like to have fun with that, its true! RN and Co-President of National Nurses United, Jean Ross will be with us to talk about H.R. 6411, the Inclusive Prosperity Act (aka the Robin Hood Tax). I swear these people never sleep—but that would be wrong because they are nurses and they know the value of a good night’s rest. That said, this week we find over a thousand of our friends, aka the “Sea of Red Scrubs,” on Capitol Hill this week at a rally to support Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison as he reintroduces the Inclusive Prosperity Act. Read more…

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Bay Area health and fitness expert Joanie Greggains joins Casey and Shayne this week on Nurse Talk. Joanie is now a regular on Nurse Talk with her weekly segment “Fit Happens” and her monthly house calls to the Nurse Talk studio to answer listener questions. Wow, does she know what she’s talking about! In just the 45 minutes she was with us I learned so much, including that if I don’t trim down it’s not only bad for my health (of course we all know that), but soon my airline tickets will cost more because they are starting to charge by the pound! Can you imagine?
“Well, sister, I am so sorry I can’t make it to the family reunion this year but my airfare would be over $5k one-way!”

And….a little combination of world news with an oh-so-slight medical twist. While Kim Jong Un, the 28-year-old petulant third generation dictator of North Korea, struggles to find his “inner and outer” power, our crack research team at Nurse Talk decided to check into his country’s healthcare system. Universal Healthcare???? Yip, universally horrifying healthcare. Not a surprise.

But this is very interesting – at least to us…Have you ever wondered about what a business or an organization has to provide in order to acquire and keep a not-for-profit (aka nonprofit) status? Read more…

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The statistics regarding back injuries are frightening! Approximately 80% of adults are expected to experience back injuries in their lifetime with 10% re-injuring! When it comes to health care professionals, the facts get are even worse.

According to national statistics, six of the top 10 professions at greatest risk for back injury are nurse’s aides, licensed practical nurses, registered nurses, health aides, radiology technicians, and physical therapists. Healthcare industry workers sustain 4.5 times more overexertion injuries than any other type of worker.

Well, registered nurses from hospitals in Kansas City and St. Louis, members of National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC), with the help of their state legislators, recently introduced HB 856 - the Safe Lift Bill. Sounds like a no brainer right? Listen and find out how challenging it was to get this bill introduced. Trust us – this is important even if it isn’t a sexy topic. The next time you are in a hospital you want to make sure whoever is lifting or moving you doesn’t have a bad back. That could lead to – well – you may end up on the floor on top of a nurse!

And Michelle Camicia, Kaiser RN has lived almost all of her 46 years in Marin County, California. Read more…

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Keeping up with the RN’s from National Nurses United—Registered nurses at Jackson Park Hospital and Medical Center on Chicago’s South Side reached an agreement with hospital officials on their first ever collective bargaining contract that includes significant improvements in patient care protections. We’ll talk with RN Monica Lloyd from the great city of Chicago about this and more. And did we say Monica is on fire about this good news!?!

And later in the show, if you haven’t found this great app called iTriage, look no further than the Nurse Talk website. iTriage is an amazing resource for everyone. Have a symptom? Go to the iTriage symptom checker. Need information about a disease? You’ll find complete clinical descriptions from A-Z. Is your medical issue an emergency or do you need to find a clinic or hospital near you? Yip, you guessed it; a complete directory of everything in your area including WAIT times. It’s incredible and we use it all the time. You should too. It’s free and it works. We welcome back Co-founder and Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Wayne Guerra for a conversation on this revolutionary tool. Read more…

This week one of our good friends returns to Nurse Talk to talk about her new project, Healthcare for All Colorado. None other than Donna Smith is with. Donna as most of our listeners know, worked for five years as National Nurses United Legislative Advocate based in D.C. She just returned to her home state of Colorado and now serves as the Executive Director of Healthcare for All Colorado.

Having (successfully) gone through two bouts of cancer, Donna has great advice on how to make your insurance company accountable–at least to some degree. In her new role she will do what she has done for many years, advocate and educate people about what can be done to access healthcare and to eventually change the current system to a nationwide universal healthcare system.

For more information about Healthcare for All Colorado and National Nurses United visit: healthcareforallcolorado.org and nationalnursesunited.org.

And—it’s time to get HIP about the issue of “low bone density.” That’s right it’s time to talk about your “bones.” And no one is more qualified than Dr. Kenneth C. Howayeck. He is an author, lecturer and osteoporosis educator.

Dr. Howayeck is an author of books on self-care, including Bone Health Made Easy.. Read more…

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We have a very good show this week. How many of you have ever wanted to talk back to Dr. Phil? Well, I, for one, have. Now a new book called none other than Talking Back to Dr. Phil has been written by our guest David Bedrick.

In his book, Bedrick tackles the major issues that provide fodder for reality shows and pop culture experts, including body image and weight loss, addiction, domestic abuse and bigotry. That’s right…Talking Back to Dr. Phil moves past simple, pop culture answers to our psychological wounds and shines a light on the path of loving kindness that leads to deep, emotional healing. You really will be dazzled by this great conversation with the author.

Why should anyone care about legislative bills that have to do with healthcare and staffing? Sounds boring? Not so fast! AB 975 Charity Care? Check it out. Or maybe SB 631 Observation Study? You don’t want to end up in a hallway at the hospital for over 24 hours do you? Listen as we check in to see what the California Nurses Association has been doing lately to fight for nurses and their patients.

We have with us Stephanie Roberson the lead lobbyist for CNA working in the Governmental Relations department in Sacramento, Calif. Read more…